Lepage's work had appeared in The New York Times as well as in The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. She also had sold images to French newspapers including Le Monde and Liberation.

Her death comes as the security situation worsens for reporters and photographers in the volatile country; two Central African journalists already have been killed this month in Bangui, the capital.

Lepage's body was found by French peacekeepers inside a vehicle driven by Christian militia fighters, the French statement said. In her last tweet a week ago, Lepage said she was embedding with Christian anti-Balaka fighters who were battling the remnants of a Muslim rebellion known as the Seleka.